Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: March 1, 2025  ·  Last updated: March 25, 2026

Your privacy matters. This Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. BahnIQ does not sell your personal data to third parties.

1. Who We Are

BahnIQ ("we," "us," or "our") operates the BahnIQ Highway Capacity Intelligence Platform at bahniq.com. This Privacy Policy applies to all users of our website, platform, and related services (collectively, the "Service"), including visitors who browse the public website, registered account holders, and authorized users acting on behalf of government agencies or organizations.

BahnIQ is a professional-grade tool designed for use by state and local transportation agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, and engineering consultants. Our handling of information reflects the standards and expectations appropriate to that institutional context.

If you have questions about this Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at privacy@bahniq.com.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

TypeExamplesWhen collected
Account informationFull name, work email address, organization name, job titleWhen you register or update your profile
Authentication credentialsHashed password; Google OAuth token (if signing in via Google)When you create an account or sign in
Payment informationBilling address, card type, last 4 digits of card number, payment statusWhen you subscribe to a paid plan (full card numbers are processed exclusively by Stripe and never stored on BahnIQ servers)
Project and engineering dataHighway segment definitions, lane configurations, traffic volume counts, speed data, geometric inputs, uploaded CSV and data filesWhen you use the platform to create, run, or save analyses
Demo and contact requestsName, email, agency name, message text, preferred contact timeWhen you submit a contact or demo request form
Support communicationsEmail content, attachments, chat transcriptsWhen you contact our support team
Feedback and survey responsesFeature requests, satisfaction ratings, written feedbackWhen you voluntarily respond to in-product surveys or feedback prompts

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

TypeDetails
Server log dataIP address, HTTP method, requested URL, HTTP status code, response size, referrer URL, browser user-agent string, and timestamps for each request
Device and browser informationBrowser name and version, operating system name and version, screen resolution, time zone
Platform usage dataFeatures accessed, analysis types run, segment counts, export actions taken, session duration, navigation paths within the application
Authentication eventsLogin timestamps, logout events, failed authentication attempts, token refresh activity (managed through Firebase Authentication)
Error and diagnostic dataApplication errors, API failure codes, performance timing data collected to identify and resolve bugs
Cookies and similar technologiesSession authentication state; see Section 6 for full details

2.3 Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect social security numbers, government-issued ID numbers, health information, precise geolocation data from end-user devices, or any data categories classified as sensitive under applicable privacy law, unless you explicitly provide such information in a support communication or uploaded file.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes, each grounded in a legitimate operational or legal basis:

We do not use your project data or engineering inputs to train machine learning models, benchmark our algorithms against third-party datasets, or share with any external party for research or commercial purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you access the Service from the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, we are required to identify the legal basis under which we process your personal data. We rely on the following bases:

4.1 Legitimate Interests Assessment

Where we rely on legitimate interests as a legal basis for processing, we have conducted a balancing test to assess that our interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms. Specifically:

You may object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time by contacting privacy@bahniq.com. We will cease such processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

5. Sharing of Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

5.1 Sub-Processors and Service Providers

We use the following categories of trusted third-party vendors who process data strictly on our behalf and under data processing agreements:

Vendor / CategoryPurposeData Shared
Firebase / Google Cloud (Google LLC)User authentication, identity management, secure token issuanceEmail address, display name, authentication identifiers
Stripe, Inc.Payment processing, subscription management, invoicingEmail address, billing address, payment method metadata (Stripe handles full card data directly)
Web hosting provider (cPanel / LiteSpeed)Web server infrastructure, file storage, SSL terminationAll data stored on the server (access restricted to authorized personnel only)
Email delivery providerTransactional email delivery (account notifications, invoices)Email address, email content of transactional messages

All sub-processors are contractually obligated to process personal data only for the specified purpose, implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures, and not disclose data to any additional parties without our authorization.

5.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or permitted by law, including in response to a valid subpoena, court order, regulatory inquiry, or governmental request. Where legally permissible, we will notify you before disclosing your information in response to such a request.

5.3 Protection of Rights

We may disclose information where we reasonably believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activity, suspected fraud, threats to the physical safety of any person, or violations of our Terms of Service.

5.4 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide reasonable notice to registered users, and the acquiring entity will be required to honor this Privacy Policy or provide comparable protections.

5.5 With Your Consent

We may share your information for any other purpose with your explicit prior consent.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use a minimal, strictly functional set of cookies. We do not use third-party advertising cookies, behavioral tracking cookies, or cross-site analytics networks.

6.1 Cookies We Set

CookiePurposeDurationCategory
Firebase auth/session storageMaintains your signed-in session and refresh lifecycle for authenticated areas of the ServiceManaged by Firebase and cleared on sign-out or session expiryStrictly necessary

6.2 Cookies We Do Not Use

We do not set or permit third-party advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, cross-site tracking cookies, social media tracking pixels, or persistent analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics). No advertising network receives data about your use of this Service.

6.3 Managing Cookies

You can configure your browser to block or delete cookies. However, blocking the strictly necessary cookies listed above will prevent the Service from authenticating your session and you will be unable to remain signed in.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Our standard retention schedules are:

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymized so that it can no longer be associated with an individual.

8. Data Security

We apply layered technical and organizational security controls to protect your data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include:

Despite these measures, no Internet-based system can guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify affected users and, where required, the relevant supervisory authority within the timeframes prescribed by applicable law.

If you discover a potential security vulnerability, please disclose it responsibly to security@bahniq.com. We will acknowledge your report promptly and work to address confirmed issues.

9. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data. We will honor valid requests regardless of whether a specific law requires it, as a matter of principle.

To exercise any of these rights, please email privacy@bahniq.com with sufficient information to verify your identity. We will respond within 30 days, and at no charge. If we are unable to fulfill your request, we will explain why.

10. California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grants you additional rights beyond those described above.

To submit a verifiable consumer request under the CCPA/CPRA, contact us at privacy@bahniq.com. We will respond within 45 days as required by law.

11. Other US State Privacy Laws

In addition to California, several other US states have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy laws. The following provisions apply to residents of those states to the extent required by applicable law.

11.1 Virginia (VCDPA)

Virginia residents have rights under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal data, the right to opt out of targeted advertising and the sale of personal data (neither of which BahnIQ engages in), and the right to opt out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. To exercise these rights, contact privacy@bahniq.com. If we decline to act on your request, you may appeal that decision by contacting us with the subject line "VCDPA Appeal." If your appeal is denied, you may contact the Virginia Attorney General.

11.2 Colorado (CPA)

Colorado residents have rights under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), including the rights to access, correct, delete, and port personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. BahnIQ does not engage in targeted advertising or the sale of personal data. To exercise your rights or to appeal a decision, contact privacy@bahniq.com. Unresolved appeals may be directed to the Colorado Attorney General.

11.3 Connecticut (CTDPA)

Connecticut residents have rights under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) similar to those described for Virginia and Colorado, including access, correction, deletion, data portability, and opt-out rights. BahnIQ does not sell personal data or use it for targeted advertising. Appeals of denied requests may be submitted to us in writing, and unresolved complaints may be directed to the Connecticut Attorney General.

11.4 Texas (TDPSA)

Texas residents have rights under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), including rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal data. BahnIQ does not sell sensitive personal data or process personal data for targeted advertising. To exercise your rights, contact privacy@bahniq.com.

11.5 Other States

We extend the rights described in this Privacy Policy — including access, correction, deletion, portability, and the right to object — to all users regardless of location, as a matter of policy. Residents of states with additional statutory requirements should contact us and we will comply with applicable law. This Policy will be updated as additional state privacy laws take effect.

12. Children's Privacy

The Service is a professional engineering platform and is not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 18, please contact us at privacy@bahniq.com and we will delete it promptly.

13. International Data Transfers

BahnIQ is based in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your data may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States or other countries where our sub-processors maintain infrastructure.

For users in the EEA or United Kingdom, such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we rely on:

You may request a copy of the relevant transfer mechanisms by contacting privacy@bahniq.com.

14. Third-Party Links and Integrations

The Service may contain links to external websites, standards documents, government portals, or third-party tools. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any third-party site before providing personal information. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or data handling of third-party websites.

15. Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

BahnIQ uses automated processing to generate engineering analyses, ranked improvement proposals, and compliance assessments. These outputs are analytical tools to assist professional judgment and do not constitute regulatory decisions, licensing determinations, or legally binding engineering opinions.

No automated decision-making produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR. All outputs require review and professional certification by a qualified engineer before use in any regulatory, procurement, or construction context.

BahnIQ does not build individual user profiles for the purpose of behavioral targeting, credit scoring, employment screening, or any other purpose that would produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals. Usage analytics are aggregated at the organizational and platform level and are not used to make individualized determinations about users. You have the right to request human review of any decision made about your account access or service eligibility.

16. Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers and browser extensions transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals to websites. Because BahnIQ does not engage in cross-site behavioral tracking, advertising networks, or third-party analytics that would be affected by DNT signals, we do not alter our data collection or use practices in response to DNT signals. Our data collection practices are limited to what is described in this Policy regardless of whether a DNT signal is present.

We support the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid mechanism for California residents to exercise their right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal data under the CPRA. Because we do not sell or share personal data for targeted advertising purposes, enabling GPC does not change our processing practices, but we record and honor the signal.

17. Data Minimization and Purpose Limitation

BahnIQ collects only the minimum personal data necessary to provide, operate, and improve the Service. We apply the following data minimization practices:

18. Records of Processing Activities

As required under Article 30 GDPR, BahnIQ maintains internal records of processing activities (ROPAs) documenting: the categories of personal data processed, the purposes and legal bases for each processing activity, the categories of data recipients and sub-processors, data transfer mechanisms for cross-border transfers, and applicable retention periods. These records are maintained by our legal and engineering teams and are available for inspection by competent supervisory authorities upon request.

A summary of our processing activities by category is as follows:

Processing ActivityLegal BasisRetention
Account registration and authenticationContract performanceDuration of account + 90 days
Subscription billing and invoicingContract performance; legal obligation7 years
Engineering analysis and project storageContract performanceDuration of account; 30 days post-deletion
Server and security log collectionLegitimate interests90 days rolling
Support communicationsLegitimate interests; contract performance3 years from close of interaction
Product usage analyticsLegitimate interestsAggregated; individual records 12 months
Transactional email deliveryContract performancePer retention schedule above
Marketing communicationsConsentUntil withdrawn or account closed

19. Government and Institutional Users

Where BahnIQ is accessed by employees or contractors of state or local government agencies under an institutional subscription or enterprise agreement, data processing may be subject to additional terms negotiated in that agreement. In such cases, the institutional agreement governs to the extent of any conflict with this Policy. Government users should consult their agency's information governance policies before uploading sensitive or restricted transportation data to any cloud-based platform.

20. Data Breach Notification

In the event we discover a security incident that results in, or is likely to result in, unauthorized access to personal data, we will:

Our incident response process includes: (a) immediate isolation of affected systems; (b) forensic investigation to determine the scope and root cause; (c) remediation of the vulnerability; (d) notification to affected parties as described above; and (e) post-incident review and documentation. We maintain an incident response plan that is reviewed and tested periodically.

21. Data Protection Officer and Supervisory Authority

BahnIQ has designated a privacy point of contact responsible for overseeing compliance with applicable data protection laws and responding to data subject inquiries. While BahnIQ may not be required under all applicable laws to appoint a formal Data Protection Officer (DPO), we have assigned internal privacy responsibilities to a qualified individual who can be reached at privacy@bahniq.com.

If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom and believe that our processing of your personal data infringes applicable data protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority in your member state or country of residence. A list of EEA supervisory authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu. For UK residents, the relevant authority is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. We encourage you to contact us first so that we may attempt to resolve your concern directly before escalating to a supervisory authority.

22. Security Vulnerability Disclosure

BahnIQ supports responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities. If you discover a potential vulnerability in the Service, we ask that you:

We will acknowledge receipt of your report within 5 business days, keep you informed of our investigation progress, and, where appropriate, credit you for responsible disclosure. We do not pursue legal action against researchers who discover and report vulnerabilities in good faith and in accordance with these guidelines.

23. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, the Service, or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will:

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the revised Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the revised Policy, you should discontinue use of the Service and may request deletion of your account and data.

24. BahnIQ Rentals

BahnIQ Rentals is a separate consumer-facing sub-product available at rentals.bahniq.com. It allows users to search rental listings nationwide and set up email alerts for matching properties. The following additional privacy practices apply to users of BahnIQ Rentals.

24.1 Data Collected for Rentals Users

TypeDetailsWhen collected
Account informationEmail address and account credentialsWhen you register for a Rentals account
Search filtersLocation, price range, bedroom count, and other filter preferences you apply when browsing listingsWhen you interact with the search interface
Saved listingsListing identifiers for properties you save or bookmarkWhen you save a listing
Alert preferencesSearch criteria you configure for email alert subscriptions, including location, filters, and notification frequencyWhen you create or modify an alert

24.2 Third-Party Services Used by BahnIQ Rentals

RentCast — listing data displayed in BahnIQ Rentals is fetched live from the RentCast API at the time of your search. Listing data is not stored permanently on BahnIQ servers; it is retrieved on demand and not retained after your session ends. RentCast's privacy policy governs how RentCast processes data on its end.

Stripe, Inc. — after the free trial period, payment for a Rentals subscription is processed by Stripe. Full card numbers are handled exclusively by Stripe and are never stored on BahnIQ servers. We retain only billing metadata (card type, last four digits, billing address, and subscription status) as described in Section 2.1.

24.3 Email Alerts

If you enable email alerts, your email address is stored solely for the purpose of delivering matching listing digest emails according to the criteria you set. You may modify or delete your alert preferences at any time from your account settings. Disabling an alert immediately stops further alert emails for that criteria.

24.4 Account Cancellation and Deletion

You may cancel your BahnIQ Rentals subscription and request deletion of your account at any time. Upon deletion: your email address, saved listings, and alert preferences will be permanently removed from our systems within 30 days. Billing records required by law are retained for the period described in Section 7. Cancellation of a Rentals subscription does not affect any separate BahnIQ platform account you may hold.

25. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, data subject requests, or complaints about how we handle your personal data:

Privacy inquiries: privacy@bahniq.com
Security disclosures: security@bahniq.com
Legal and compliance: legal@bahniq.com
General support: support@bahniq.com
Website: bahniq.com

If you are located in the EEA and believe we have not adequately addressed your concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.